Want a drink in flight? Bring plastic
Passengers on all US Airways’ mainline domestic flights will have to use a credit or debit card to pay for food and beverages because it will no longer accept cash for onboard purchases, the airline said today.
Many airlines have switched to only credit- and debit-card purchases for drinks and snacks so their flight crews don’t have to carry large amounts of cash, or store money in hotel rooms on overnight layovers.
US Airways, Philadelphia’s largest airline, said in an employee newsletter today, that accepting cash involves “manual processes” that are inefficient and add costs. Another benefit: “We’ll be able to serve drinks and snacks more quickly.” The new process will use card-scanning devices.
The change applies only to the airline’s so-called mainline flights. US Airways Express or commuter flights will continue to accept only cash. Both cash and credit cards will be accepted on flights to Europe, South America and the Middle East.
US Airways tested the card-scan devices on about 600 flights in December 2008, and in January 2009 gave passengers on most US Airways’ mainline flights the option of paying with cash or credit cards.
A cashless cabin makes it easier for airlines to track and adjust inventory. Carriers also have found that travelers tend to spend more if they put purchases on a card.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/business_breaking/88646907.html
‘Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution’ regurgitates the worst of reality TV pap
Well, you can imagine how eagerly the people of West Virginia respond to a foreigner with meticulously rumpled hair and a funny accent telling them to hand over the fries.
Anyone who has ever tried to pry chicken nuggets from their child’s grip has been met with the same stubborn resistance seen in “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” (premiering Sunday night). Also there’s the added soupcon of outright scorn. Not a word is spoken at “Food Revolution’s” outset about our culture’s politicization of food — the whole arugula divide, the high cost of eating right, the class issues over portion size, the constant character judgments strewn between a fine meal and the drive-thru.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/19/AR2010031901683.html
Figs
The fig is perhaps the most sensual of the fruits. It is not just the evocative appearance it is the contrast in texture that makes this fruit sexy: the silky skin, the crunch of the seeds and the soft flesh nestled in between. Few people know that you are actually eating a beautiful inverted flower (the crunch of the seeds is actually the small flowers as well).
A fig is a fruit that only ripens on the tree and doesn’t travel well (the reason you should eat as soon as possible), thus this is one fruit you need to eat in season …
Fresh figs are lovely drizzled with honey and served squashed on toast with ricotta for breakfast. Grilling or roasting a fig will bring out the natural sugars and is lovely served alongside pork or duck to temper the richness of these meats. Fig jam is a fabulous friend for a rabbit terrine, or works well served alongside a pungent washed rind cheese.
Cut a big cross into the top of the fig (through the stem) being careful not to cut through to the bottom. Give the base of the fig a bit of a pinch, so that the four top corners open out like the petals of a flower. Nestle a nodge of blue cheese into the middle of the cross (you can roast or barbecue your fig at this stage). Drape with prosciutto and top with a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
Not only do they look good and taste great but they are really good for you and are very high in fibre. Look for figs that are plump and shiny, soft to the gentle touch (but not mushy), avoid any with bruises or soft patches. If you turn the fig over the eye (ostiole) on the underside of the fig should be almost exploding. This is how the fig wasp would determine whether or not to enter and there is no reason we should not do the same.
Figs love – prosciutto, goat’s cheese, blue cheese, ricotta, honey, balsamic vinegar, duck, pork, ice cream, rabbit, cheese plates
2009 Los Angeles Auto Show
If the North American auto show season has an official kickoff party, the Los Angeles Auto Show is it. In addition to world debuts of the 2011 Cadillac CTS Coupe, 2011 Toyota Sienna and VW Up! Lite Concept, the 2009 LA Auto Show again played host to the Green Car of the Year announcement, which went to a diesel car for the second year in a row. The LA Auto Show is also a first chance to see and touch the cars unveiled around the world in the eight months since the New York Auto Show, which this year included jaw-droppers like the 2011 Lexus LFA and 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG.
